The Icelandic deposit system is automated

40 million cans and 42 million PET bottles – such are the numbers of used beverage containers which the Icelandic company Endurvinnslan HF annually collects, sorts and resells to the world market. Until the summer of 2008, all beverage containers were manually counted and sorted, but with the installation of five HLZ high-speed counting machines, Endurvinnslan has started to automate and make the deposit system more efficient, making handling of beverage containers much more profitable.

Increased refund accuracy

As part of the automation process, Endurvinnslan will replace the existing manual collection and sorting locations by a smaller number of automated collection stations based on HLZ machines from Anker Andersen A/S which will count, sort and compress the beverage containers.

So far, two HLZ high-speed counting machines have been installed in Endurvinnslan’s counting centre in the capital of Reykjavik and one machine in Keflavik; in addition, a number of decentralised counting centres are in the planning stage. With the change to automated counting and sorting, the registration accuracy has increased by more than five percent, resulting in much more accurate deposit refunds.

A profitable investment

Endurvinnslan’s investment in HLZ high-speed counting machines will pay for itself within a few years. The increased registration accuracy will reduce the deposit losses which they have had to accept till now, and the immediate compression of the containers will lead to considerable logistical savings as less space is required during transport. Furthermore, Endurvinnslan will make man-hour savings as one HLZ machine is able to handle many more containers than would be possible by manual handling.

Social responsibility

A HLZ counting machine can be operated by a general worker and is very user-friendly. The counting centre in Keflavik has therefore - with great success - been established as sheltered workplace for people with disabilities, who are offered a worthwhile job with demands suited to their abilities.